The Wolves
by cassowary
Summary: Character sketches of the Marauders in comparison to members of another famous group.
1. Scar

Author's Note: These are basically comparisons of the Marauders in terms of members of the Shinsengumi, another fascinating group. Even if you're not familiar with the Shinsengumi, don't worry; these are only some parallels I saw. The chapters are named after the members' family crests.

This first one is James Potter vs. Harada Sanosuke, whose family crest was based off of his _seppuku_ scar, thus the title.

Feel free to tell me what you think; does it work?

Now, he was a _man_.

Truth, he spoke truth, despised lies and anything, _anything_ that held people down.

He lived like a lion (because it was _damn_ hard to control him, simple as he appeared); loved a woman as his mate and equal; left his pride (of lions, because he was a proud, proud man) for that love.

He was a lover and a fighter, but he could never make the choice; never back down.

Never, never, _never_.

So when battle came to his doorstep, he bared his fangs and fought for his wife and child and everything else he loved and believed in.

He was a lion, he was just one man: he could not choose between love and war; he was the first to die.


	2. Flower

Author's Note: Though in most cases, I try to make my comparisons based off the hard truth of Wikipedia articles, I based this one more off of the rendition of Okita Souji in Hakuouki. They seem to have almost too much in common—Okita and Sirius must be long-lost twins.

People feared him, very rightly so.

Laughed and smiled and cried inside, covered in the blood of those dead before him.

Like a child, coming into the world screaming and sick, and he would never grow up.

A genius, they said, but they never really understood him: that it hurt to grow up, and he had already suffered enough, didn't he? He just wanted to be useful, be a weapon, do something great, so that he would never be left behind or rejected again.

Because you don't go out in a war without your sword at your side.

Child, prodigy, weapon; it didn't matter, because he burned away his short life in a tangled web of institutions, politics, undying loyalty, and an all-crippling _rage_.

He was a genius; he was locked away to rust and break when his master needed him; he achieved nothing; he was the second to die.


	3. Bamboo

Author's Note: If there _are_ any Shinsengumi fans floating around the Harry Potter fandom, don't kill me. I know Peter Pettigrew was kind of a coward, and Saitoh Hajime probably _wasn't_, but both are very mysterious, and I think, had the most influence on actual turns of events out of any of their fellows. As for myself, I wish Peter was fleshed out a bit more as a character.

Whose side was he on?

Whose side was he on?

Most people couldn't tell you—what a spy!

He hides behind his boring, plain face, something people don't notice, and sometimes he hates it.

But his friends laugh and tell him that it's always the quiet ones that are the _real_ killers (even _they_ didn't think he was the one—even though he _was_).

Nobody suspected a thing, but he doesn't know who he can trust because it seems like people don't always trust _him_ so much any more.

Confusion, deceit. But spy work never was exactly easy.

Sometimes he feels guilty, but it had to be done (didn't it?); the world sees a dull, sloppy man who pales next to the others, but he hides something _truly_ deadly, something that can kill geniuses and hearts and everything else he meets.

At least nobody ever suspected a thing.

He was third to die.


	4. Pine

Author's Note: Nagakura Shinpachi is probably my favorite member of the Shinsengumi, but he's been depicted usually as loud and troublesome. However, he was not only an expert swordsman, but he also had a reputation of being the resident bookworm of the group. I don't agree with a lot of the depictions of Remus Lupin in fan works (maybe I'm looking at the wrong ones?), but as they were the last ones in both of their respective groups, I see a lot in common between them.

He was the Last Wolf.

He was the strong one—why should he howl any more?

But he remembered, and he was always a little different. War changes people (permanently); it's no lie.

His memories, too, changed him.

You see, there was no going back to simpler times, when he could pretend to be everyone else (who was pretending? He wondered if he perhaps ran away one too many times).

He wonders about many things: why is he the one left behind to pick up the pieces—is this a blessing or a terrible curse?—with age comes wisdom, they tell him, but now there's nobody left who really _knows_, and he's alone once again.

He loves his wife, but she will never understand how _they_ understood.

So he tries to pick up the pieces alone, be the ever-patient one, but even _his _patience wanes, and he wants so desperately to shed his sheep's clothing and be a _wolf _again.

But he was the one who remembered and spoke (despite the pain); he was the Last Wolf; he was the fourth to die.


End file.
